Three months earlier, ODSTs are deployed to reinforce Marine ground forces on a planet. A convoy of Warthogs escorts AdmiralKovalic, carrying an AI, towards an extraction point. As the ODSTs land, the convoy is attacked by a Jiralhanae Chieftain, and the Admiral's Warthog is overturned. Lance CorporalPalmer's HEV lands nearby, and she defends Kovalic from the Chieftain and other Covenant. Palmer successfully escapes with Kovalic and the AI, but is injured while doing so.